“Your friend is gone.” That is how Auntie Miriam put the matter, when I visited to express my sympathies on the loss of my dear teacher, senior friend and pastoral colleague. The Very Rev Prof Joshua N. Kudadjie honoured me immensely in many ways, including asking me to read over some of his writings for comment. The height of these was when, at a time in which he was feeling very unwell, still accepted to deliver the Pastoral Charge at my Investiture as President of the Trinity Theological Seminary. This was on Thursday, 1st November 2018. The words of wisdom that he brought, so carefully articulated and delivered with a serious sense of reverence for the occasions is something that has left a lasting impression on me. I have lost in Prof. Kudadjie a dear senior friend, my teacher in ethics at the postgraduate level, and also a pastoral colleague.

I encountered him long before we got person­ally acquainted. Theodora and I still speak fondly of a talk on the message of the biblical prophet, Amos, which Prof. Kudadjie delivered at a Scripture Union Easter House Party in Takoradi in the early 1980s. Much later as a probationer, I sat in a Methodist Conference held at the Wesley Cathedral in Cape Coast when he served as speaker for Conversations on the State of the Work of God. Prof. Kudadjie was still a layman then, and he delivered some bold, deep, and incisive reflections that qual­ified for a virtual inquisition on the spiritual health of the Methodist Church Ghana.

We had a lot to do together since those years when one only admired him from afar. On occasions when we had to minister together, the Very Rev Prof Kudadjie would call ahead of time so that we could decide together on what to wear for the occasion. Most of the time, he would defer to my judgement. Those were very humbling occasions. My pastoral role at the Legon Interdenominational Church ben­efitted greatly from his wisdom as a founding member of that community of faith. On being appointed President of the Trinity Theological Seminary, Prof Kudadjie came over to pray with me in my office. Only recently, he moved me to tears when on hearing that as President, I was raising funds for infrastructural develop­ment in the Seminary, Prof. Kudadjie revisited my office and carefully taking out his cheque book, signed a donation to support the work of the Lord.

On this day, as we mourn the loss of a beloved big brother, I also recall with a deep sense of gratitude to God and with nostalgia, the years in which he served as General Director of the then Board of Ministries of the Methodist Church Ghana. I served with him on that Board as Director of the Ordained Ministry Division. Prof Kudadjie gave me room to express myself in report writing. I benefitted from his wisdom as we discussed the Board’s various reports prior to General Purposes Council Meetings and Conferences of the Methodist Church Ghana.

I have looked over some of the pictures I have with Prof. Kudadjie since his home-call into glory. This includes one taken in our apart­ment in Birmingham when as a PhD student, he stopped by to spend a few hours with me and my family during a personal visit to the UK. I consider the Very Rev Prof Kudadjie a man of solid worth, who was very concerned about the moral temper of the church, our society and the country at large. In him, we have lost a fine professor of moral philoso­phy, whose life’s work as lecturer, pastor and mentor has impacted many lives, including mine and my beloved. May the Lord grant his servant eternal rest and his family the grace to find comfort and closure in the midst of this irreplaceable loss.

Rest in the Peace of the Lord, Very Rev Prof Joshua N. Kudadjie, and thank you for all you meant to me and my family!